Abstract
This thesis studies the impact of General Pinochet’s military dictatorship on Chile’s economy and social classes. The free market policies pursued by the regime brought Chile to new levels of economic development despite years of GDP contraction under the previous socialist administration. These policies allowed Chile’s economy to recover out of high rates of inflation, however, at the expense of civil rights. Many Chilean citizens who supported President Allende’s socialist agenda, were part of his administration, or had ties to radical leftist organizations were detained, tortured, and killed. The aim of this study is to draw a balance sheet of the winners and losers under both heads of state, Allende and Pinochet. While demonstrating how the free market policies were implemented and their causal success, this study seeks to identify the social classes who benefited or lost the most as a result of the policy extolled by the head of state.